Ishell Robinson
IshellRobinson
Elizabeth Kim
English 10:40
17July 2015
Social Construction of Race
When talking about race people tend to just explain it at the bare minimum.Race does not just have one specific meaning. It can be interpreted in vast ways depending on multiplecustoms. Inthe article”Racial Formations,”written byMichaelOmi andHowardWinant, theyelaborate on how societyneeds to break the barrier of stereotypes and defining people of onesrace because race is always changingdue to society always changing.InCaucasiaBirdie and Cole are sisters that live two different lives due to their outward appearance. Omi and Winant believe that race is changing due to social concepts such as racial ideology, racial identity, and racialization.This idea is enforced inthenovelCaucasia, written byDanzySenna,the protagonistcan relate to these social concepts that form the real meaning of race.
Omi and Winant proclaim that racial ideology has a huge impact on race due to social construction.Racial Ideology is people’s preconceived notion of race, their set of beliefs on race. Most beliefs are based off of howonethinksa certain race should act or how they should look. As Omi and Winant puts it, “We also become disoriented when people do not act black,’ Latino,’ or indeed white.’ The content of such stereotypes reveals a series of substantiated beliefs about who these groups are and what they’ are like” (Omi and Winant 4). The authors are stating how people become confused or dumbfounded whenonesbeliefs do notmatchhow they perceived a specific race group to be like.This connects to Omi and Winant’s main argument that race is not just one specific thing becausephysically it is hard to tell which raceone may be. Stereotypes are created based on one’s society. Stereotypes will continue to change as society keeps changing.It would not be true. Historians themselves cannot describe race.
In connection withCaucasiaBirdie explains, ” My grandmother(white grandmother)had met her(black grandmother)a few times before Nana died, and liked to talk about how intelligent, dignified’ she was, as if that fact were surprise, proof ofsomething that needed proving” (Senna 101).Birdie comes up with her white grandmother being surprised because her black grandmother was intelligent. Birdie interpreted her white grandmother being surprised was because she did not believe blacks were intelligent. Her white grandmother believed thatblacks could never be as smart or dignified as white people were. Birdie’s white grandmother’s racial ideology about her black grandmother brought Birdie to this understanding of race as a social construction.
Omi and Winant discuss racial identity in their article and makes many important points about it. Racial identity is a group of people identified as “other groups” because of their physically or genetic traits. The authors state, “Skin color differences’ are thought to explain preconceived differences in intellectual, physical, andartistic temperaments, and to justify distinct treatment of racially identified individuals and groups” (Omi and Winant 4). They are saying that a person can be categorized a certain race due to multiple things like the way one speaks, one’s taste of music, the way one walks and so on (4). Every characteristicaspectin a person may determine one’s racial identity.Racial identity cannot be looked at under one aspect.
There is multiple example of racial identity demonstrated in the novelCaucasia. Birdie states, “It reminded me of an old black – and – white plantation movie my father had forced Cole and me to watch on Sunday afternoon. The slave characters in it had been played by white actorswho wore some kind of pancake makeup on their faces. My father had laughed whenever they spoke in their strained dialect” (Senna 14). The white actors had pancake makeup on to symbolizetoo much makeup they had to put on to be perceived as black slaves. The situation that reminded Birdie of this movie was Redbone’sslang,she described it as being awkward and twisted. Birdie also mentioned that her father would laugh every time he heard the “strained dialect” the white slaves were talking in the movie. The “strained dialect” is an impersonation of how the white actors thought black people talked, but was not true. The white actors grouped the black slaves they were acting out as black because of how they thought black people talked and also how one looked due to the pancake makeup.
In the article “Racial Formations” Omi and Winant talk about how racialization is a key factor to race as a social concept. Racialization is the process of ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify one as such (Omi and Winant5). According to Omi and Winant, “By the end of the seventeenth century, Africans whose specific identity was Ibo, Yoruba, Fulani, etc. ,were rendered black'”(5). In making this comment, the authors assert that these different types of African were just given the racial identity of black. They were not allowed to choose how they perceived one’s own self. They gave the Africans this title because of racial logic – the maintenance and establishment of the “color line” (5).This logic was established when a new term of self- identification – white was established (5).The term – white was established when slavery was established. The term “black evolved as slavery was being brought in the world. Once slavery was established a new term need to be formed to even out the color line.
Birdie deals with racialization in the novelCaucasiawhen attending her first day of school at Nkrumah. Birdie hears one of the students say, “She a Rican or something? I thought this was supposed to be a black school” (Senna 43).Birdie is categorized as Puerto Rican even though she is not Puerto Rican, she really is black. The kids categorized her as Puerto Rican because of her skin complexion. The kids at the school don’t feel as though her skin complexion is dark enough to be black. Birdie looks more like her mother whose skin complexion is a bit lighter than Cole. Cole looks more like her father with a darker skin complexion, this is why Cole is more accepted than Birdie is. Birdie feels like she does not belong because she can pass as white and the school is an all-black school. That is what the students who attend Nkrumah make Birdie feel when questioning if Birdie was Puerto Rican. Birdie believes if she does not have the requirements of others she is different and it is impossible to fit in.
In conclusion, in both, the article “Racial Formations” and the novelCaucasiait proves that race is unstable and cannot be defined in one particular way. Omi and Winant state that race is defined due to social concepts such as racial ideology, racial identity and racialization.Caucasiauses examples from their two protagonist lives who are sisters, Birdie and Cole. Birdie and Cole have completely different outward appearances. Birdie takes more after her mother with a lighter complexion while Cole take more toward her father’s side with the darker complexion. In the novel they both are treated differently because of their racial appearance. Society gives them these racial appearances they talk about throughout the novel. Where Birdie looks white and Cole looks black. The kids at her school racially categorizedher as Rican when she’s really not. Society has their way of things.
Work Cited
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant.”Racial Formation”.Racial Formationin the United
States, Second Edition. New York: Routledge,1989.1-9. Print.
Senna,Danzy.Caucasia.New York, New York 1014, USAPenguin Group, 1998, Book
Reflection
My process for this paper was not as bad as the one I wrote last week. Maybe because all we had to do was revise some of our work from the last essay and just add on connections fromCaucasiathat link to the main argument Omi and Winant stated in their article” RacialFormations”.
Some resources that I felt helpful for writing my paper was all the class discussions we had, worksheets given out, and tutoring. Our class discussions allowed me to grasp what was expected for this essay. How I should structure my paper, where things should go. Our discussions geared me to the understanding of why certain examples connected to Omi and Winant’s main argument. Another thing that allowed me to be successful in writing my paper was that quote sheet that gave quotesthat could connect to social concepts in the article “Racial Formations”. Tutoring also was factor in my paper. The CAs clarified some things up that I did not understand which allowed me to write more in my paper and not be too vague, but more specific. The CAs also helped me revise and edit my paper. They helped me structure my paper if some things were out of place.
My thoughts on this paper didn’t come at the last minute like my other paper. I really sat down and thought about the quotes I used and the connection I used and understood how and why they were connections to the social concepts brought up in the article “Racial Formations”.
